Bipartisan retirement savings bill would encourage employee savings

Senate Finance Committee (SFC) Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR) on March 8, 2018 introduced the bipartisan Retirement Enhancement and Savings Bill of 2018 (RESA, S. 2526). The measure aims to increase employer incentives to encourage employee retirement savings.
“This legislation creates workable, voluntary solutions to help workers better save for their future,” Hatch said in a joint press release. According to Hatch, the bill would authorize multiple employer plans, which would allow smaller employers to join together to sponsor one retirement plan for their employees.
“This bipartisan bill gives employers incentives to make it easier for their employees to save,” Wyden said. Additionally, the bill would allow individuals over 70 to make tax-free contributions to their Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), according to Wyden. “These types of provisions are key to addressing our country’s savings crisis,” he added.

Multiemployer pension plans

The bipartisan bill’s introduction comes just days after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) named Hatch co-chair of the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, signed into law on February 9, 2018, creates the new joint select committee consisting of 16 members chosen by Leadership in the House and Senate. As named, the committee is tasked with drafting recommendations to improve the solvency of multiemployer pension plans.
“Despite remaking the U.S. tax code to better promote savings and investment, there is still more work that needs to be done to bolster retirement savings and address the shortcomings that have plagued multiemployer pension plans across the country,” Hatch said in a statement. “While resolving this issue is long overdue, there continues to be a great deal of bipartisan support in Congress for a comprehensive solution to the union-run multiemployer pension system.”